James Woods facts for kids

Quick facts for kids James Woods
Woods in 2015
Born	James Howard Woods (1947-04-18) April 18, 1947 (age 78) Vernal, Utah, U.S.
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1969–present
Spouse(s)	Kathryn Morrison ​ ​ (m. 1980; div. 1983)​ Sarah Owen ​ ​ (m. 1989; div. 1990)​ Sara Miller-Woods ​ (m. 2021)​

James Howard Woods (born April 18, 1947) is an American actor. He is known for playing many different types of characters in movies and TV shows. He has won several awards, including three Emmy Awards and a Golden Globe Award. He was also nominated for two Academy Awards.

Woods started his acting career in plays in New York City. He appeared in his first Broadway play, The Penny Wars, in 1969. He then acted in other plays like Borstal Boy (1970) and Moonchildren (1972). His early movie roles included The Visitors (1972) and The Way We Were (1973). He also starred in the TV miniseries Holocaust (1978) with Meryl Streep.

He became well-known for his role as Gregory Powell in the movie The Onion Field (1979). He received Academy Award nominations for his roles in Salvador (1986) and Ghosts of Mississippi (1996). Some of his other famous movies include Videodrome (1983), Once Upon a Time in America (1984), and Casino (1995). He also helped produce the movie Oppenheimer (2023).

For his TV work, he won two Primetime Emmy Awards. These were for his roles in Promise (1987) and My Name Is Bill W. (1989). He also played a lawyer in the TV series Shark (2006–2008). Woods is also famous for his voice acting. He voiced Hades in Hercules (1997) and characters in Recess: School's Out (2001) and Surf's Up (2007). He has also voiced himself in The Simpsons and Family Guy.

Early Life and Education

James Woods was born on April 18, 1947, in Vernal, Utah. He had one younger brother. His father, Gail Peyton Woods, was an army intelligence officer who passed away in 1960. His mother, Martha A. Woods, later ran a pre-school.

Woods grew up in Warwick, Rhode Island. He went to Pilgrim High School and graduated in 1965. He was raised Catholic and briefly served as an altar boy in church.

He went to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). He once said he wanted to become an eye surgeon. At MIT, he was part of a student theater group called Dramashop. He acted in and directed many plays there. In 1969, he left MIT just before graduating to become an actor. Woods has said that Tim Affleck, who was a stage manager and the father of actors Ben and Casey Affleck, helped him start his acting career.

Career Highlights

Early Acting Roles (1969–1976)

James Woods acted in 36 plays before making his first appearance on Broadway in 1969. This was in a play called The Penny Wars. The next year, he acted in Borstal Boy (1970). He even pretended to be British to get that role! He also appeared in The Trial of the Catonsville Nine (1971). In 1972, he won an award called the Theatre World Award for his acting.

In the early 1970s, Woods started getting small movie roles. His first movie was The Visitors (1972). He also appeared in The Way We Were (1973) with Barbra Streisand and Robert Redford. He continued to act in movies like The Gambler (1974) and Night Moves (1975).

Becoming Well-Known (1978–1989)

Woods became more widely known after playing the husband of Meryl Streep in the TV miniseries Holocaust (1978). This series told the story of a Jewish family during a very difficult time in history. The show won many awards, including an Emmy for Best Limited Series.

The next year, Woods took on a main role in The Onion Field (1979). Critics praised his performance, with one saying he deserved an Academy Award nomination. He was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for this role.

Woods at the Primetime Emmy Awards in 1992

In the 1980s, Woods acted in the thriller Eyewitness (1981) and the science-fiction horror film Videodrome (1983). A critic from The New York Times praised his acting in Videodrome, saying he brought a unique energy to the role.

He then played a Jewish gangster named Maximillian "Max" Bercovicz in the movie Once Upon a Time in America (1984). This movie was very popular and received a long standing ovation at the 1984 Cannes Film Festival. Woods considers this one of his favorite roles.

In Oliver Stone's movie Salvador (1986), Woods played a real-life journalist named Richard Boyle. For this role, he won the Independent Spirit Award for Best Actor and was nominated for his first Academy Award. In 1987, Woods won his first Primetime Emmy Award for his role in the TV movie Promise. He won another Emmy in 1989 for playing Bill W., the founder of Alcoholics Anonymous, in the TV movie My Name Is Bill W..

Established Actor (1990–1999)

In the early 1990s, Woods was offered a role in the movie Reservoir Dogs (1992). However, his agent turned it down without telling him. When Woods found out, he changed agents. That year, he played Roy Cohn in the TV movie Citizen Cohn (1992). He was nominated for a Golden Globe and an Emmy for this performance. He also had a supporting role in the movie Chaplin (1992).

Woods played Lester Diamond in Martin Scorsese's movie Casino (1995). He was very eager to work with Scorsese. The movie was well-received by critics. Also in 1995, he played H.R. Haldeman in Oliver Stone's movie Nixon. He was nominated for a Screen Actors Guild Award with the rest of the cast for their teamwork.

Woods at an AIDS Project Los Angeles event in September 1990

In the movie Ghosts of Mississippi (1996), Woods played Byron De La Beckwith. This character was a white supremacist. Woods worked hard to perfect the accent for the role. He received a Golden Globe Award nomination and his second Academy Award nomination for this performance.

Woods also voiced the character of Hades in the Disney animated movie Hercules (1997). Critics loved his performance, comparing his energy to Robin Williams in Aladdin. He continued to voice Hades in the TV series and in video games like Kingdom Hearts. He won a Daytime Emmy Award in 2000 for his voice work as Hades.

Recent Work (2000–Present)

In the 2000s, Woods continued to do a lot of voice acting. He voiced Dr. Phillium Benedict in the Disney film Recess: School's Out (2001) and Falcon in Stuart Little 2 (2002). He also voiced Reggie Belafonte in the animated movie Surf's Up (2007), which was nominated for an Academy Award.

From 2005 to 2016, Woods often played himself in the animated TV show Family Guy. He also voiced Lex Luthor in the animated series Justice League Action starting in 2016. From 2006 to 2008, Woods starred in the CBS legal drama series Shark. He played a lawyer who became a prosecutor.

In 2011, Woods starred in the HBO TV movie Too Big to Fail. This movie was about the 2008 financial crisis. Woods played Richard S. Fuld, Jr., who was the CEO of Lehman Brothers. He was nominated for an Emmy for this role. In 2013, Woods joined the TV series Ray Donovan in a recurring role.

Jennifer Connelly, Woods, and Robert De Niro at a screening of Once Upon a Time in America at the Cannes Film Festival in 2012

Woods has also appeared as a fictional version of himself in The Simpsons and Family Guy. He has lent his voice to video games like Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. In 2012, Woods attended a special screening of a restored version of Once Upon a Time in America (1984) at the 65th Cannes Film Festival. He was there with Robert De Niro and Jennifer Connelly.

In 2023, Woods served as an executive producer for Christopher Nolan's movie Oppenheimer. The producer of the film, Charles Roven, thanked Woods for giving him the book that the movie was based on when the film won the Academy Award for Best Picture.

Personal Life

Relationships

In 1980, James Woods married costume designer Kathryn Morrison-Pahoa. They divorced in 1983. In 1989, he married Sarah Owen, but they divorced a few months later. In 1992, he dated actress Heather Graham. Woods was raised Catholic and still practices the religion.

Interests

Woods playing poker at the Pechanga Resort and Casino in California in 2005

James Woods enjoys playing video games. He also deals in antiques in Rhode Island. Woods is a big fan of poker and plays in many tournaments. As of 2018, he has had over 80 successes in poker tournaments.

9/11 Experience

On August 1, 2001, James Woods was on a flight from Boston to Los Angeles. He noticed four men acting suspiciously near him. Woods told the co-pilot about his concerns, and he believes these concerns were shared with the FAA. On September 11, 2001, after the attacks, Woods called the FBI and told them about the men he had seen. He believed he had seen some of the hijackers responsible for the September 11 attacks. The FBI interviewed him about this.

Acting Credits

James Woods has worked with many famous directors throughout his career.

Selected films and TV shows:

Awards and Nominations

James Woods has been nominated for many awards for his acting. He was nominated for two Academy Awards for his roles in Salvador (1987) and Ghosts of Mississippi (1996).

He has also won several TV awards. He won a Golden Globe Award and a Primetime Emmy Award for his role in the TV movie Promise (1986). He won his second Primetime Emmy Award for his performance in My Name is Bill W. (1989). He has also received nominations for the Screen Actors Guild Awards and has won three Independent Spirit Award nominations, winning for Salvador.

• On October 15, 1998, Woods received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 7021 Hollywood Blvd.

See also

In Spanish: James Woods (actor) para niños